Onalaska Wins District 4 1A Championship in the 4th Quarter

The Onalaska girls hold up the District IV trophy after a 55-30 victory over Toledo on Saturday night.

There is something about the number four that is working for the Onlalaska Lady Loggers of late. The fourth seed from the Evergreen Conference have earned improbable wins in the last four games with two wins over league champion Toledo, one over Trico League champion La Center and one over nemesis Rainier.

On Saturday night, the Loggers polished off Toledo for the second time inside of the last four weeks with a 25-6 4th quarter to win the SWWA 1A District Championship going away 55-38.

The Loggers have been very special lately; Making great comebacks and picking themselves up after falling on their face early in each game.

Saturday night was no exception as The Lady Indians were up by six points late in the second quarter after making a methodical 10-0 run and seemed on the verge of stomping any thoughts of another Ony upset.

Onalaska's Hailey Givens (#3 left) and Mandy Reynoldson (#23 right) double team Toledo's Haley Hellem.

“That was our talk at halftime when we were down 25-20,” said Logger Head Coach Doug Ashmore. “I told them that we needed to stay calm and play our game”. He then allowed the girls to suggest what they need to do and they suggested running their patented full-court press against one of the quickest teams in the District.

“Can you handle (the physicality) it” he asked them. His team’s reply was an emphatic yes.

“I listen to my girls and they knew what we needed to do, they know how to run our system. They did what they needed to do,” he continued as he watched his girls cutting down the nets.

The Lady Loggers outscored Toledo in the 3rd quarter to narrow the gap to 32-30 and in the 4th, the Toledo wheels came off.

With both teams consistently pressing, loose balls were the rule of the day. Here players from both teams scramble for the advantage of possessing the ball.

Indian sharpshooter Tiffany Tornow gathered in 6 points by bombing a three in both the 1st and 2 quarters. Largely though, Logger defender Samantha Gordon was tasked with keeping the lid on the Evergreen MVP candidate and she was very effective. Tornow’s last basket came with 5:32 to go in the 4th . She finished with just 8 points.

Meanwhile, Onalaska’s Amber Durand was everywhere. She hit four treys in the first quarter, but was largely shut down in the second as Toledo made a serious run. With 12 seconds to go in the 3rd, she began a personal tear that lasted three minutes into the 4th as she personally outscored the Indians 11-4. Meanwhile, Ony went on an 18-4 run until Toledo scored their last basket with 3:20 left in the game to bring the score to 46-38 in favor of the Loggers.

Durand completed the game with 29 points and the Loggers finished the game on a 9-0 run.

Mandy Reynoldson and and Kalie Richey finished with nine points a piece for Ony. Toledo had balanced scoring with Tornow at 8, Haley Hellem and Cadi Zion both at 7 points each.

Toledo held a huge advantage in rebounding, Haley Hellem the games leading rebounder at 9 grabs.



Both teams are headed to state this week, but Onalaska won't be the 4th seed from District 4 and may carry the title of the hottest team to enter the tournament.

Loggers 55 Indians 38

ONALASKA (55) Amber Durand 29, Mandy Reynoldson 9, Kalie Ritchey 9, Hailey Givens 4, Samantha Gordon 4, Sarah Barnes 0, Erin Wrzesinski 0, Regan Givens 0, Amie Working 0.

TOLEDO (38) Tiffany Tornow 8, Haley Hellem 7, Candi Zion 7, Ashlee Coffey 5, Brianna Vowtow 5, Brittany Hope 4, Lia Lucas 2, Sara Buswell 0, Lacey Scott 0, Nicole Ewers 0, Kelsey Stone 0.

Onalaska 14 6 10 25-55
Toledo 11 14 7 6-38

Onalaska Ends Cardinal Winning Streak

It almost came again. The patented Winlock come-back that has become nearly expected of them. Two weeks ago, it was Toledo and last week it was Rochester and Forks, but this time, it fell short as Onalaska hung on to earn a 35-30 1A Girls Evergreen Conference win. The game was eerily similar to the game played in Onalaska with the Lady Loggers applying a stifling full-court press allowing a 13-4 Onalaska advantage after the 1st quarter.

Onalaska Girls Head Coach Doug Ashmore (right) and Winlock Head Coach Scott Ashmore watch their respective teams complete a pre-game warm-up.

“Doug likes to change up his defenses, “ said his brother and Winlock Head Coach Scott Ashmore who’s team gave up 25 turnovers.

“We played several different types of defenses,” acknowledged Onalaska Head Coach Doug Ashmore. “We have the press and the 1-3-1 that works into a trap on top,” he pointed out.

The Lady Cardinals came back to within four at halftime based on poor Onalaska shooting. Ony had an 0-for in the 2nd quarter and went 1-6 from the free throw line. Tasha Sayers scored the only field goal of the 2nd quarter as the Lady Cards went 4-7 from the charity stripe.

Onalaska's Kalie Richey scored 15 points in Onalaska's 35-30 victory over Winlock on Monday.

While it was Kalie Richey that scored early and often totaling 15 points for the Loggers, Hailey Givens came out after half and lit up the nets with four straight points taking the Onalaska lead to 18-10.

Amber Durand had a quiet night scoring only 11 points with four of those on steals and transition baskets.

With 4:08 left in the game, the predictable Winlock comeback began in earnest when down 28-20, Courtney Sutor drilled a three and then Julie Jacobo took a steal on the inbounds right up and in. Suddenly it was a three point lead and the “Bird Cage” (Winlock gym) began to get noisy.

Winlock's Tessa Lawrence tries to tie-up Kalie Richey, but ended up fouling her instead.

(Courtney) “Sutor started breaking us down,” said Doug Ashmore who was impressed by her ability to drive and become a shooting and passing threat in the same motion.

With 3:34 to go, Samantha Gordon hit a silencing three ball.

Winlock came back with two buckets of their own to get within two at 31-29 and then Durand banked-in a shot from the left side of the paint.

Winlock’s Amber Buckman was fouled on the other end and made one of two free throws with 1:09 to go.

Onalaska had a difficult time bringing the ball up the floor, but the Cards had an equally hard time making a steal that wouldn’t go off their fingertips and out of bounds. Three times, Winlock was guilty of tipping Ony passes only to lose them off the court.

It was Durand who was fouled with 11.6 to go that iced the game with two free throws.

With 11.6 seconds to go, Onalaska's Amber Durand sank two free throws that iced the game for the Lady Loggers.

Tasha Sayers led Winlock with 10 rebounds while Kalie Richey grabbed 8 for the Lady Loggers.

“We had too many turnovers and we couldn’t hit shots said Scott Ashmore, the Winlock Coach. \

A winning streak in the Evergreen Conference has to be accompanied by near perfect play and that doesn’t happen every night. This night, Onalaska put a good enough game together to leave Winlock with the victory.

ONALASKA-Kalie Richey 12, Amber Durand 11, Hailey Givens 7, Samantha Gordon 3, Mandy Reynoldson 2, Amie Working 0, Sarah Barnes 0, Erin Wrzesinski 0, Regan Givens 0,

WINLOCK-Tasha Sayers 7, Julie Jacobo 6, Amber Buckman 5, Courtney Sutor 5, Kaley Crawford 4, Tessa Lawrence 3, Kayla Rakes 0, Amanda Suter 0, MacKenzie Spalding 0, Jill Craft 0

ONALASKA 13 1 12 9-35
WINLOCK 4 6 8 12-30

Toledo Contains Onalaska in Overtime Thriller

Toledo's Candi Zion (#30) of Toledo takes a shot over two Onalaska players Tuesday night.

It's the loneliest place in the gym and Onalaska Senior Guard Mandy Reynoldson stood there. The Lady Loggers were down by two points with 11.6 seconds left in regulation with Reynoldson at the line for two free throws. “I was nervous, but I just focused and tried to shut out the crowd noise” she said. She calmly sank both free throws at the end of regulation in a 1A Girls Evergreen League game between Onalaska and Toledo. The Lady Indians came back in the overtime to capture a hard fought, 48-44 victory.

It was Tiffany Tornow though that struck the first and most striking blow a minute into the overtime. She hit a three-pointer and then sank one of two free throws 16 seconds later. Brittany Hope was fouled on the ensuing rebound and she hit two free throws to extend the Toledo lead to 43-37. Baskets by Reynoldson and Amber Durand brought the Loggers back to within two at 43-41. With 1:01 left, Candi Zion was fouled and hit one of two free throws. The Loggers cashed in on the next possession as Hailey Givens was fouled and made two free throws drawing the score to 44-43. Toledo’s next possession ended with a Candi Zion jumper that led to a 46-43 lead. When Givens was fouled again with 4.5 seconds left, she missed the first and converted the second. In an attempt to stop the clock, Brittany Hope was fouled and she stepped up to the line and drained the last two shots of the night.

Few could have foreseen the dramatic ending when the Lady Indians took an 11-2 lead after the first quarter. The Loggers seemed to miss everything. Later in the game, they improved their field goal percentage to a paltry 25%.

Unhappiness seem to be the tone early.

“We didn’t play very smart tonight,” said Toledo Head Coach Mandie Olson. “I don’t know if that was contributed by their athleticism. We came out very hard and then we lapsed. I felt like we were playing at a seven or eight and then we dropped to a four,” Olson continued.

Onalaska came alive in the second quarter, taking advantage of Toledo fouls and converting six free throws from a variety of Lady Loggers and two three pointers by Amber Durand but Toledo took a 18-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Despite tough defense by Toledo's Tiffany Tornow, Onalaska's Amber Durand (#25) finished the game with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals. She played all 36 minutes of the game.


1:38 into the 4th quarter found Onalaska leading for the first time when Durand put in two more of her 18 points. The two teams then proceeded exchange the lead 5 times. With 1:26 to go Haley Hellem drove the lane successfully for two points a 37-35 Toledo lead.

“They are quick and they are athletic, and we could have pressed earlier, but we were more concerned with Durand then we were with the rest of the kids,” continued Olson. “That was our focus tonight to try and limit her touches of the ball. I think Tiffany Tornow did a good job on her.”

Toledo's Haley Hellem (#14) drives along the baseline during Tuesday's game against Onalaska. Hellem finished with 9 points, and 4 rebounds.

Candi Zion quietly accumulated 12 points but four other Lady Indians accumulated 6 or more points including Hellem and Tornow who both had 9 points each. Onalaska out rebounded Toledo 44 to 35 with Hailey Givens grabbing 10 and Durand 9. Above all, there was a striking difference in mistakes with Toledo forcing 32 Onalaska turnovers even though they rarely extended their defense.

“We decided not to go into a trap because they were so quick and athletic,” said Toledo Senior Post Ashley Coffey. When the Indians did employ a full court trap in the 4th quarter, the pace of the game sped up, but neither team seemed to grab an advantage.

Toledo is now 5-1 in conference play (9-2 overall) and will host Winlock on Thursday. Onalaska 3-3 (6-5) will play Montesano at home on Thursday.

ONALASKA-Amber Durand 18, Kalie Ritchey 9, Mandy Reynoldson 7, Samantha Gordon 7, Hailey Givens 3, Sarah Barnes 0, Erin Wrzesinski 0, Regan Givens 0, Amie Working

TOLEDO-Candi Zion 12, Haley Hellem 9, Tiffany Tornow 9, Kelsey Stone 8, Brittany Hope 6, Ashley Coffey 2, Sara Buswell 2, Nicole Ewers 0, Lia Lucas 0, Lacey Scott 0, Brianna Votaw 0

Onalaska 2 12 8 15 7-44
Toledo 11 7 5 14 11-48